Although there is currently no standard definition of "green" jobs, Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) data are available for a number of occupations associated with protecting and preserving the environment and natural resources. This highlight presents employment and wage data for eight environmental, conservation, and forestry occupations. Data for over 800 occupations are available from the OES home page.

Wages for scientists and engineers were higher than those for the associated technician occupations. Environmental engineers earned an hourly mean wage of $37.49, making this the highest paying of the occupations shown above. Foresters was the lowest paying of the four scientist and engineer occupations, with an hourly mean wage of $26.46. Hourly mean wages for the three technician occupations ranged from $16.98 for forest and conservation technicians to $21.36 for environmental engineering technicians, while forest and conservation workers were the lowest paid of the eight occupations, with an hourly mean wage of $12.55.

Although the industries shown in charts 1 and 2 were among the largest employers of these occupations, in general, they were not among the highest paying industries for these jobs. However, there were some exceptions: for example, federal government was one of the highest paying industries for environmental engineers and conservation scientists, and state government was among the highest paying industries for environmental scientists. Additional occupational employment and wage data by industry are available online.

California had among the highest employment of all eight occupations. Texas and Florida had among the highest employment of the four environmental science and environmental engineering occupations, while Wisconsin and Minnesota were among the states employing the largest numbers of both foresters and conservation scientists. Although no states were consistently among the highest paying areas for all eight occupations, California and the District of Columbia were among the highest paying areas for several of the occupations. In some cases, wages for a given occupation varied considerably by state. For example, although New Jersey had among the highest employment of forest and conservation workers, it also had one of the lowest mean wages for this occupation, at $8.55 per hour, while Illinois was one of the highest paying states for this occupation, with an hourly mean wage of $22.12.